FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES IN UOFL WBB ROMP
On Ugly/Holiday Sweater promotion night for Louisville women's basketball Friday night...the Cards delivered a win and it wasn't ugly at all...a 28-point win in the KFC YUM! Center. Myisha Hines-Allen had a double-double (14 pts/12 boards), Asia Durr delivered 20 points in 20 minutes, Mariya Moore had a solid 19 minutes and 12 points and Bionca Dunham came off the bench for 12 points in 10 minutes to improve the Cards record to 10-2
This one was over pretty quickly. Louisville raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes and Hines-Allen had nine points in the quarter to go along with 4-4 three-point shooting by Moore and Durr to give the Cards a 23-8 lead after ten minutes. The defense was on duty as well...forcing nine Charleston turnovers and getting five steals.
Lookin' Good, J.C! |
It was another excellent first half of defense for UofL...creating 18 turnovers, getting 10 steals and holding College of Charleston to 23.3% shooting and just seven made baskets. The Cards were having their way on the boards as well...with a 32-19 advantage. Hines-Allen and Durr had 14 points each and Jeff Walz had played everyone but Jessica Laemmle in the half.
My buddy Bobbie and the family XMAS stylin!! |
Dunham and Fuehring combined for 10 of UofL's 17 fourth quarter points and Sydney Zambrotta knocked back her second three of the game as Louisville coasted to the victory. Brianna Jones took over as chairwoman of the board(s) with six final period grabs and the Cards fearless attack Yorkie Jessica Laemmle got in the scoring column with 14 seconds left to close out the 86-58 win.
Cards win. The Cards win !!
HOW DID FRED DO?
Fred "Mr" Rogers knew a thing or two about sweaters... |
Rebounding -- A whopping 61 rebounds and everyone on the squad had one...for a decisive +17 in this contest. Jazmine Jones with seven in 14 minutes was great to see and Ciera Johnson was showing an aggressive side tonight as well. No problem in handing out a capital "R" for the grabs tonight.
Effort/Execution -- No doubt about the hustle and performance in the first half -- it was off the charts. With as many minutes as the non-starters played, a bit of a drop off probably should have been expected...Louisville had 42 points in the paint but probably could have added an additional 20 on close-in but missed chances. Still, they were hustling and let's give them a capital "E" for that.
Defense -- I thought the defense was excellent in the first half. Coach Walz liked the first 24 minutes of the Cards defensive effort. Coll. of Charleston did outscore Louisville in the final two quarters and only had four turnovers in the second half...so we're going to offer a small case "d".
FINAL FRED COUNT: F-R-E-d
THINGS WE LIKED
Relieving the worry early. Watching Louisville get off to roaring starts is a thing of beauty. If there was any worry that CofC would duplicate the close game from last year...those thoughts were gone by halftime...probably earlier for most.
Hitting the unguarded ones. So very nice that the free throws were falling for Louisville tonight. The Cards will have games this year where free throws could make the difference and we can only hope that this level of marksmanship continues.
Everybody dance! We're partial to the games where everyone gets a good amount of court time. No player saw less than nine minutes Friday night and everyone scored but B. Jones (who was too busy rebounding). The Cards used a plethora of combinations...including a stint where an all-freshman lineup was on the court.
Sweater night! It's fun to see all the festive and ugly sweaters that the fans and coaches wear. Sam Purcell deemed it was ugly 'casual suit night' and wins our award as "person most likely to try and sell you a used car" award. Player reaction ranged from "I loved it"...to "That's just hideous!" (I wonder if he rents it by the hour and whether it lights up in the dark...
THINGS TO WORK ON
Consistency was a bit off tonight...especially in the second half. Louisville went just as deep in the lineup in the win over an arguably stronger South Dakota State squad and won each period. And Louisville only led that one 38-14 at the half. This was 49-19 at the half Friday night. The Cards slipped just a bit in the final twenty.
No fast break points? The Cards are usually good for 10 or so of those a game. They had 0 against the Cougars. They also didn't win the points off turnovers by a large margin either (18-14). Yes...CofC played a four guard offense for most the game and did get back pretty quickly...but the transition game wasn't as strong as it usually is in this win.
SO...
The dapper Mr. Purcell (sorry I cut the white shoes out) |
No, Louisville didn't put up 140 or hold their foe to two first half points. What they did do was take care of business and deliver a solid "W" in their third game in six days. And that's good enough for now. Asia Durr's 20 and MHA's double-double in a relatively short playing time shows us that they have a lot of good teammates around them that help them create and that kind of teamwork and recognition is exactly what you want to see this time of year.
THEY SPEAK TO US
Myisha Hines-Allen and Asia Durr were the players sent to the podium ( I guessed Myisha and maybe Bionca.) They were entertaining and informative. It's so fun to see how "at ease" and professional they are now...compared to their freshmen years.
LINK: MYISHA AND ASIA COMMENT ON A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING
Coach Walz followed and gave us his take on the win (and Sam Purcell...who, according to Jeff, Sam was wearing the suit he got married in). That must have been one heck of a wedding!
LINK: COACH WALZ ADDRESSES THE CofC WIN
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
RADIO DAZE
"Hey, ma! Turn on the radio! the boys at Crescent Hill are on! I got no opposable thumbs |
What gremlins will be present today? How many times will be say "Uh" or "Ummm" It is live radio at it's finest...with all the fixins' and side platters you want. Why not tune us in on your way to the YUM! today? It don't cost nothing!
Link below:
THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO AURA
good morning dear!
Paulie
xxxxx
Wow! Another big win and another reserve busting out! I'm getting to like AJ and Nick quite a bit on the radio feed. Keep it up, Cards! I might even put on a holiday sweater when I walk the beach this morning.
ReplyDelete-- The Real Joe Hill --
And Good Morning dear to you as well. It's great to read your take on games. What were you and that old guy laughing about at the start of the second half?
ReplyDeleteHmmm...maybe when the Cheerleader came down press row selling calendars? Charlie pointed at me. I pointed at him. She just kept on trucking. I told him I'd go in *halfers* with him one on and let him have it from July on out.
DeletePaulie
Glad to see we shot free throws like we're finally getting serious and we didn't run up the score.
ReplyDeleteNow that's cool not running up the score. Go cards
DeleteWe play the game right with respect and dignity.Go Cards
DeleteGood game for the cards to go deep into their bench.
ReplyDeleteI did notice that ciera johnson getting more touches down in the paint.She needs to gather her self and take her time.She could become a big time weapon down low.